1937 in Music

• Oct 21 Dmitri Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony premieres
• Nov 13 NBC forms first full-sized symphony orchestra exclusively for radio
• Nov 21 Dmitri Shostakovitch's 5th Symphony premieres in Lenningrad
• Nov 27 Pro-labor musical revue "Pins & Needles" opens, produced by ILGWU
• Dec 25 Arturo Toscanini conducts 1st Symphony of the Air over NBC Radio

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 144

• Jan 6 Doris Troy [Doris Elaine Higginsen], US R&B singer and songwriter (Just One Look), born in the Bronx, New York
• Jan 6 Paolo Conte, Italian singer
• Jan 8 Robert Moran, composer
• Jan 8 Shirley Bassey, Cardiff Wales, singer (Goldfinger, Moonraker)
• Jan 12 Vicente Sardinero, Spanish baritone (d. 2002)
• Jan 14 Billie Jo Spears, country singer
• Jan 16 Bob Bogle, Portland, rock bassist/guitarist (Ventures-Batman Theme)
• Jan 16 Conny Vandenbos, Dutch singer (My rose, my little rose)
• Jan 27 John Ogdon, pianist/composer, born in Manchester, England
• Jan 29 Bobby Scott, jazz singer
• Jan 31 Philip Glass, minimal composer (Einstein on the Beach), born in Baltimore, Maryland
• Feb 1 Don Everly, Brownie Ky, vocalist (Everly Bros-Wake Up Little Susie)
• Feb 1 Dr Hook, [Ray Sawyer], Ala, vocalist (Dr Hook-When You're in Love)
• Feb 2 Martina Arroyo, American opera soprano (NY Met), born in NYC, New York
• Feb 2 Tom Smothers, American comedian and folk singer (The Smothers Brothers Show, Serial), born in NYC, New York
• Feb 5 Cocky van Oost, [Kommertje van Vliet], Dutch dancer (Sylphides)
• Feb 8 Joe Raposa, composer/songwriter (Sesame Street)
• Feb 9 Johnny Sayles, US vocalist (You Made Me Wiggle)
• Feb 10 Don Wilson, rock guitarist (Ventures-Walk Don't Run, Batman Theme)
• Feb 11 Lodewijk Boer, Dutch violinist/playwright (The Family)
• Feb 14 Magic Sam, rocker (Chicago Bluesman)
• Feb 15 Zoltan Pesko, composer
• Feb 17 Mickey McGill, US vocalist (Dells-Love is Blue)
• Feb 18 Alan Johnson, American 3-time Emmy Award winning choreographer (Springtime for Hitler, West Side Story), born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (d. 2018)
• Feb 20 David Ackles, Illinois, vocalist/songwriter (American Gothic)
• Feb 20 Nancy Wilson, Chillicothe Ohio, jazz vocalist (Feel Like Making Love)
• Feb 22 Dubravko Detoni, composer
• Feb 26 Hagood Hardy, Canadian musician and composer (d. 1997)
• Mar 4 [Bernard Barney Jean] Wilen, musician
• Mar 6 Paul Mefano, French composer, born in Basra, Iraq
• Mar 6 Ben Keith [Bennett Keith Schaeufele], American musician and record producer (Neil Young, Great Speckled Bird), born in Fort Riley, Kansas (d. 2010)
• Mar 8 Raynoma Singleton [Gordy], music producer and singer-songwriter (Motown), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2016)
• Mar 8 Richard Farina, American writer and folk rocker (Reflections in a Crystal Wind)
• Mar 12 Elizabeth Vaughan, Welsh opera soprano (Victor-Victoria, born in Llanfyllin
• Mar 13 Terence "Terry" Cox, British musician (Pentangle, Duffy's Nucleus, Humblebums), born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
• Mar 16 Constança Capdeville, Porteguese pianist and composer, born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 1992)
• Mar 16 David Del Tredici, American composer and pioneer of the Neo-Romantic movement (1980 Pulitzer), born in Cloverdale, California
• Mar 17 Galina Samsova, Russian ballerina, born in Stalingrad, Soviet Union
• Mar 19 Clarence "Frogman" Henry, American pianist and singer (Ain't Got No Home), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Mar 20 Jerry Reed, singer/actor (Bat 21, Smokey & the Bandit), born in Atlanta, Georgia
• Mar 20 Joe Rivers, rocker (Johnnie & Joe)
• Mar 22 Jon Hassell, American composer and trumpet player, born in Memphis, Tennessee
• Mar 22 Angelo Badalamenti, American film composer (Twin Peaks, The Straight Story, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive), born in Brooklyn, New York
• Mar 23 Heinz Martin Lonquich, German composer
• Mar 23 Robert Cage, American blues guitarist (From Lake Mary), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 2012)
• Mar 24 Benjamin Luxon, Redruth England, baritone (Owen Wingrave)
• Mar 24 Billy Stewart, US R&B singer (I Do Love You)
• Mar 27 Johnny Copeland, American blues guitarist and singer (Lion's Den), born in Haynesville, Louisiana (d. 1997)
• Mar 31 Willem Duyn, [Mouth], Dutch singer (Mouth & MacNeal)
• Apr 3 Louis Satterfield [also known as Lui-Lui, Ealee, and Sat], American trombone player (The Pharaohs, Earth, Wind & Fire, Phenix Horns), born in Shaw, Mississippi (d. 2004)

• Apr 7 Charlie Thomas, singer (Drifters), born in Lynchburg, Virginia
• Apr 22 Jack Nitzsche, composer/songwriter (An Officer & a Gentleman)
• Apr 24 Joe Henderson, American jazz saxophonist, born in Lima, Ohio (d. 2001)
• May 1 Bo Nilsson, Swedish composer (Doppelspiel)
• May 4 Ron Carter, American jazz bassist (Ron Carter Meets Bach), born in Ferndale, Michigan
• May 4 Hans Ulrich Lehmann, Swiss composer, born in Biel, Switzerland
• May 4 Dick Dale [Richard Anthony Mansour], American guitarist, born in Boston, Massachusetts
• May 5 Delia Derbyshire, English musician and composer (Doctor Who theme, White Noise), born in Coventry, England (d. 2001)
• May 9 Dave Prater, American singer and musician (Sam & Dave), born in Ocilla, Georgia (d. 1988)
• May 9 Sonny Curtis, Texas, guitarist (Crickets)
• May 13 Judith Somogi, American conductor (Frankfurt Opera-1982), born in NYC, New York
• May 14 Peter Frederic Williams, composer
• May 15 Trini Lopez [Trinidad Lopez], American singer and guitarist (If I Had a Hammer), born in Dallas, Texas
• May 20 Teddy Randazzo, song writer (I'm on the Outside Looking In)
• May 26 Yehuda Yannay, composer
• May 29 Irmin Schmidt, rocker (Can)
• May 29 Peter Kolman, composer
• Jun 2 Jimmy Jones, American singer-songwriter (Handy Man), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2012)
• Jun 4 Freddy Fender, American musician ("Before the Next Teardrop Falls"), born in San Benito, Texas (d. 2006)
• Jun 5 Stanley Lunetta, composer
• Jun 5 Floyd Butler, American soul singer (Friends of Distinction), born in San Diego, California (d. 1990)
• Jun 7 Neeme Järvi, Estonian-American conductor, born in Tallinn, Estonia
• Jun 15 Ray Coleman, British music journalist and biographer, born in Leicester (d. 1996)
• Jun 15 Rolf Riehm, German composer, born in Saarbrücken
• Jun 15 Waylon Jennings, American country singer and guitarist (Ramblin' Man), born in Littlefield, Texas (d. 2002)
• Jun 20 Jerry Keller, rocker/actor (If Ever I See You Again)
• Jun 22 Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell, English businessman and record producer (Island Records), born in Westminster, London, England
• Jul 6 Gene Chandler, [Eugene Dixon], rocker (Duke of Earl), born in Chicago, Illinois
• Jul 6 Vladimir Ashkenazy, Russian pianist and conductor (Tchaikovsky-1962), born in Gorky, Russia
• Jul 10 Sandy Stewart, American singer (Sing Along With Mitch, Mr President), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Jul 12 Michel Louvain, French Canadian singer (Buenas Noches Mi Amor), born in Quebec, Canada
• Jul 19 George Hamilton IV, American country musician, born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (d. 2014)
• Jul 24 Barry Lloyd Vercoe, New Zealand composer and computer scientist (MIT Media Lab), born in Wellington, New Zealand
• Jul 27 Chuck Jackson, American singer (Any Day Now, I Don't Want to Cry), born in Latta, South Carolina
• Jul 28 Peter Duchin, American pianist and bandleader (Peter Duchin Orchestra), born in NYC, New York
• Aug 2 Garth Hudson, Canadian pop musician (The Band-Life is a Carnival), born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
• Aug 4 David Vickerman Bedford, composer
• Aug 6 Baden Powell de Aquino, Brazilian guitarist (d. 2000)
• Aug 6 Paul Griffin, American session musician and pianist, born in Harlem, New York (d. 2000)
• Aug 6 Charlie [Charles Edward] Haden, American jazz double-bassist (Liberation Music Orchestra), born in Shenandoah, Iowa (d. 2014)
• Aug 8 Louis Neefs, Belgian singer
• Aug 14 Brian Fenelly, American composer (A Thoreau Symphony), born in Kingston, New York (d. 2015)
• Aug 16 David Behrman, American composer (On The Other Ocean), born in Salzburg, Austria
• Aug 20 El Fary, Spanish singer and actor (d. 2007)
• Aug 22 Donald MacLeary, British ballet dancer (Royal Ballet), born in Glasgow, Scotland
• Aug 27 Alice Coltrane, jazz musician
• Aug 27 Phil Shulman, Welsh rocker (Gentle Giant), born in Glasgow, Scotland
• Aug 27 Tommy Sands, singer/actor (Teenage Rock, Dream With Me), born in Chicago, Illinois

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• Jul 11 Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas (22) marries dancer Caitlin McNamara (22) in Penzance, Cornwall

• Jan 8 John Felix August Korling, composer, dies at 72
• Feb 14 Erkki Gustav Melartin, composer, dies at 62
• Mar 2 Gustav Wohlgemuth, composer, dies at 73
• Mar 11 Paul Scheinpflug, composer, dies at 61
• Mar 12 Charles-Marie-Jean-Albert Widor, French organist/composer, dies at 93
• Mar 12 Jeno Hubay, Hungarian composer, dies at 78
• Mar 12 Charles-Marie Widor, French organist, composer and professor (Paris Conservatory), dies at 93
• Mar 29 Karol Szymanowski, Polish/Ukraine composer (Stabat Mater), dies at 54
• Apr 8 Arthur William Foote, US organist/composer, dies at 84
• Apr 8 William Henry Hadow, composer (Studies in Modern Music), dies at 77
• Apr 10 Algernon Ashton, composer, dies at 77
• Apr 15 Nikolai Artzibushev, composer, dies at 79
• May 1 Snitz Edwards, Hungarian actor (College, Phantom of the Opera), dies at 69
• May 2 Arthur Somervell, English composer, dies at 73
• May 4 Noel Rosa, Brazilian songwriter (b. 1910)
• May 11 Viliam Figus, composer, dies at 62
• Jun 2 Louis Vierne, French organist and composer, dies at 66
• Jul 10 Attilio Brugnoli, composer, dies at 56
• Jul 11 George Gershwin, American composer (An American in Paris), dies at 38
• Jul 17 Henri-Constant-Gabriel Pierne, composer, dies at 73
• Jul 28 Abdul Muslim Mahomayev, composer, dies at 51
• Aug 23 Albert Charles Paul Marie Roussel, composer, dies at 68
• Aug 23 Albert Roussel, French composer (Rapsodie Flamende), dies at 68
• Sep 4 Giovanni Salviucci, Italian composer, dies at 29
• Sep 6 Henry Kimball Hadley, composer, dies at 65
• Sep 23 Caro Roma [Carrie Northey], American composer and singer, dies at 68
• Sep 26 Bessie Smith, American blues singer nicknamed the "Empress of Blues" (over 200 songs), dies of injuries sustained in car crash at 43
• Oct 9 August de Boeck, composer, dies at 72
• Nov 2 Maude Valerie White, composer, dies at 82
• Nov 4 Rogelio del Villar, Spanish composer, dies at 61
• Nov 23 Louis Victor Saar, composer, dies at 68
• Dec 26 Ivor Gurney, English composer and poet, dies of tuberculosis at 47
• Dec 28 Maurice J Ravel, Swiss/French composer (Bolero), dies in Paris at 62

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